Join Nottinghamshire Bat Group

Donations can be done using the same bank details.

Donations

Nottinghamshire Bat Group is a voluntary group financed solely through membership and donations. Donations to the group allow us to continue our valuable work across the county and supports a variety of activities. Donations are used to buy equipment to support our fantastic bat care group who rescue and care for injured bats, re-releasing them once they are healed. Funding also allows us to provide bat talks and bat walks, teaching people about the value of bats and how and where to look for them. We also allocate funds to the purchase and creation of bat boxes (homes for bats) bat surveys to monitor bat populations and for the maintenance of our equipment that allows these surveys to be undertaken.

All donations make a difference to our group. If you would like to make a donation in support of Nottinghamshire Bat Group this can be done through a bank transfer using the details below:

Santander Bank account for Nottinghamshire Bat Group Ac/No 05289653 Sort Code 09-01-50

Please use the name of the person donating as the payment reference.

Thank you very much for your support

Membership and meet the committee

New members to the group are always welcome. If you want to come along to one of our winter indoor meetings to get a flavour of our activities please do so. Many of our events are for members only so there is definitely an advantage to joining. All members will also receive regular bat group updates (usually no more than once per month) from the Bat Conservation Trust which have information on up and coming national and regional events as well as news and updates on the latest batty discoveries.

Members will have access to the following:

• Monthly update email from BCT on current bat events and discoveries

• Bat box checks

• Bat walks with the opportunity to help support on walks

• Bat talks from experts in the field

• Hibernation checks in local hibernacula and caves

• Opportunity to support in running stalls at different events around the county

• Indoor meetings and meals

• Activities in support of a bat license

Brown Long Eared bats in a Kent bat box

Members recieve emails detailing upcoming events that they can request to join in. Children under 16 may be welcome with a responsible adult. You will have to ask the event leader who will assess the risks specific to that event.

The membership fee is £7.50 valid for 12 months from 1st January in any year. New members joining after 1st September will receive membership until 1st January the following year.

We ask you to fill in a membership form every year as this helps us keep track of your current details and help us track memberships.

You can pay your membership by bank Transfer (details above) or set up a standing order to automatically pay once a year.

Please use the name of the person joining as the payment reference. This should match the name on the membership form.

Hibernation count at Creswell Crags

Stall at Bennerley Viaduct

Meet the Committee

Chair and website manager

I am John Parker the group’s Chair as of March 2020, and also website manager. I joined the group in the summer of 2017 after an increasing interest in bats through 3 public bat walks with Lynn. I am interested and active with most things bat from harp trapping, swarming, bat box checks, hibernation counts, emergence surveys to bat care. I have taken part in the National Nathusius Project joining in with harp trapping. I just caught the last year of the ELL project and really enjoyed the transects which required walking. I got a bit obsessed with trying to get all tetrads sampled. I started doing an NBMP field survey. I am retired which explains where I find the time.

I gained my Class 1 & 2 license early 2020 after a frustratingly long wait for it to be processed due to COVID. I had gained experience by volunteering with Dr Dani Linton at the Wytham Bat Project and with swarming surveys in the Cotswolds. The swarming at Box Mine was the most exciting and memorable bat night ever. I saw, handled and processed bats that I had not seen before. Greater & Lesser Horseshoes, Bechsteins, and Serotine. I am also a member of the Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group originally joining them to gain more experience and see how other groups work with bats.

The photo of me was taken at Finemere (Wytham Bat Project) with a Natterer’s bat that I had just rung, my second ringing. A very exciting day.

Vice Chair and Social Media

I am Carol Evans, I have had a fascination with bats for many years and have been a member of the the Nottinghamshire Bat Group since 2018. I have a few roles in the group; Joint Vice Chair, Social Media Secretary, NBMP Champion and merchandise.

I am part of the dedicated NBG bat care team and also help with and lead bat box checks, surveys and bat walks for the group.

I am a member of a few other other bat groups and regularly travel to the south-west of the country to help survey and monitor some of our more scarce UK species not seen here in Nottinghamshire - I ringed my first bat (a Natterer’s) in July 2024. I gained my Class 2 licence in September 2024.

Bats are amazing creatures and lead remarkable lives. We never stop learning about them and bats love to prove the books wrong which is what makes them so fascinating. I enjoy engaging with people (especially children) to help bring more awareness of bats and the need to conserve their habitats - I feel it a huge privilege to be so directly involved with their conservation.

The photo to the left is of me holding a Bechstein’s bat in the depths of Dorset July 2024.

Vice Chair and Treasurer

I am Nick Clayton and my journey with the Nottinghamshire Bat Group actually started back in 2015, though I can’t take all the credit for getting involved initially. It was my son who was originally obsessed with bats, and I spent my early days tagging along to various trapping projects just to support his interest. While he has since traded his bat detector for a gaming headset, I found myself well and truly hooked.

What began as a volunteer hobby has since grown into a professional career; I now work as an ecologist and hold a Level 2 bat licence.

Over the last decade, I’ve put in countless hours in the dark—from the hands-on reality of bat care and rehabilitation to the physical graft of trapping, bat box checks, and leading public walks. I've been particularly involved in the more technical side of things, leading hibernation surveys and hand netting Natterer's bats to help determine the proportion of males within maternity roosts (approximately 1/5 if you're interested).

These days, I also serve as the group’s Treasurer. Despite the long nights and the paperwork, it’s all worth it for those moments in the field, especially when I get to see my personal favourite: the Daubenton’s bat. There is still something incredible about watching them skim across the water’s surface on a quiet night—a sight that, for me, definitely beats sitting in front of a gaming monitor.

Secretary

Hello! I’m Laura. I’m the group’s Secretary and have been a bat group member since 2013. The main part of my role is to monitor the group’s email account and either reply to queries or forward emails to someone else on the committee who can help. The majority of emails we get are about putting up bat boxes, planning permissions for developments or organisations asking for walks and talks.

I began working towards a career change from contaminated land consultancy in 2010 and I’m now an ecological consultant with a Level 2 bat licence which I gained partly through volunteering with the group. I have helped with trapping and radio tracking (National Nathusius Pipistrelle Project (NNPP) and Nottingham Barbastelle Project), bat box and hibernation checks, bat care and public walks since joining the group.

I’m holding a Noctule bat in the photo which we caught at Wollaton Hall on one of the NNPP sessions in 2019. It’s one of the largest species we have in Nottinghamshire and I’m definitely more nervous about holding it (it has big teeth) than I look!

Bat Care Co-ordinator

I am Lynn Victor and I have been a member of the Bat Group for about 20 years. I have a life-long interest in wildlife and volunteering with the Bat Group has given me amazing opportunities to find out more about these fascinating mammals and help with their conservation.

I was soon persuaded to become involved with bat rescue for the group; there were few carers in the County back then and I learned a lot from Margaret Thurgood who regularly cared for 20 bats at a time. I have been a coordinator for the group for several years, helping to develop our care network and practices so that we can both help more bats and spread the workload. We now have a team of active carers, most of the equipment needed is funded by the Bat Group (from donations) and we support each other with skills sharing and an annual training and networking day for new and existing carers.

I am very keen to raise awareness about bats with the public, and have experience of working with children, families and schools, so I enjoy leading bat walks, talks and activity sessions. This is always very rewarding – children come up with the best questions! It’s great when people become more involved with bats as a result, even putting up bat boxes and buying a bat detector so they can find their own bats.

Bat rescue is also a great way to engage with people who actually have a bat in their garden or property. Even if the bat doesn’t pull through, we’ve played an important part through raising awareness, igniting interest, maybe even finding and safeguarding a roost. If the bat makes a full recovery, taking it back to the finder and releasing it in their garden is the best feeling ever. I feel very lucky to be a part of NBG, I’m learning all the time and wish I had time to do more; luckily there are other members out there far better with technology than me and willing to stay up all night doing surveys!